BLOOMINGTON, MN – FEBRUARY 01: Jason Kelce #62 of the Philadelphia Eagles speaks to the media during Super Bowl LII media availability on February 1, 2018 at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Philadelphia Eagles will face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII on February 4th. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Jason and Travis Kelce may have had a blast while hosting a live recording of New Heights at the University of Cincinnati, but there was, regrettably, “an unfortunateness” to the evening—at least for the former Philadelphia Eagle.
As the recent retiree documented on the newest episode of the brothers’ podcast, he ended up “truly losing” his Super Bowl ring before the night was over.
While recapping the Great Lombaby Games (a reference to the Vince Lombardi Trophy that each Super Bowl-winning team receives), a series of Olympic-style challenges that found 10 Cincinnati Bearcat athletes taking on 10 other students ahead of the main event at the NFL stars’ alma mater, Jason admitted that the wild competition led to the loss of the ring he was awarded after he and his fellow Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018.
Part of the games involved a “full vat of Skyline Chili,” which is a Cincinnati-based restaurant chain, mixed with spaghetti and cheese and—you guessed it—his Super Bowl ring. The “disgusting” concoction filled up two inflatable children’s pools full, with one containing his Super Bowl ring protected by a sock and the other containing a replica that contestants had to dive into the chili to uncover.
As the competitors got “creative” about finding ways to win, the match-up eventually devolved into flinging armfuls of the chili about. So it’s ironic, but unsurprising, that he “legitimately lost” the ring during the “shenanigans,” given that the game was inspired by his tendency to “continually lose [his] Super Bowl ring.”
Dedicated folks used shovels to search through the chili the next day to try to find the sock containing the would-be heirloom, even breaking out a metal detector to try to uncover it beneath the sludge, but, apparently, Skyline Chili contains enough iron to trigger the device, making it “an impossible task.”
As such, Jason is “safely assum[ing]” that the ring has made its way to a landfill by now, though in a room full of college students, we wouldn’t be surprised if it actually found its way into one of their pockets.
Either way, Jason was genuinely stunned by the loss, as Travis shook his head in exasperation. “I didn’t think that would happen,” the former Eagle admitted, as his brother asked, “What did you expect to happen?”
“I thought that we would just go in the pool and get the ring afterwards,” he said, leading his brother to call him an “imbecile.”
“But they were throwing so much, and there was so much calamity happening that at some point, the only thing I can think of is that at some point, the sock got kicked out of the ‘3-way’ chili and it made its way out of the pool and that it was thrown away in some shape or form. But yes, the Super Bowl ring is officially gone.”
He’s already filed a claim with his insurance, though he’s not confident they’ll cover this particular loss. Neither, of course, is Travis—”especially [after he told] the entire world how [he] lost it,” though Jason is adamant that he “didn’t lose it” and “knew exactly where it was.”
“No you didn’t,” Travis laughed. “Nobody knew where it was.”
“It was in that pool,” Jason insisted. “It’s the same thing as like if I left it in my house and someone came into my house and took it, it’s the exact same scenario…it doesn’t matter where I put it. I can put it wherever I want as long as I know where it’s at, and I knew where it was at. Somebody at some point messed with my Super Bowl ring.”
But, seeing as “it’s just a hunk of metal,” he’s “fine with [it],” and already has plans to have another one made. “They can do that, right? I guess we’re going to find out.”
